Golfers ready to compete for titles

This area sees the top golfers in the world every year thanks to The Masters Tournament, but the year-round golf talent in Columbia County and the Augusta area is nothing to sneeze at, either.

This past Monday, the Augusta Prep team finished second for the second straight year in the Georgia Independent Schools Association Class AAA state golf championship, just four shots behind Stratford. Or, as Prep athletic director Tom Holodak put it, “Not bad for two eighth-graders, two freshmen and a sophomore.”

On Monday, May 20, the public schools get a will put their skills on display in their respective state championships.

Continuing their impressive run, the Harlem High School boys will compete for a Class AA state title for the first time since 1986. They finished fifth in the sectionals and will see what they can do at the Rocky Creek Golf Course in Vidalia, Ga.

In Class AAAAA, the Lakeside girls will go for their second state title in as many years. I would say they are defending state champions, but for semantics’ sake I won’t since they won the Class AAAA title a year ago. They will be competing at the Indian Mound Golf Club at Jekyll Island, Ga., as will Grovetown’s Danielle Reynolds, who qualified as the golfer with the lowest score for a non-competing team.

The Lakeside boys were state runners-up a year ago and will try to get over that hump. They finished second in the sectionals and now they find Greenbrier, among others, standing in their way. The Wolfpack finished fifth in the state a year ago, but won the region competition this year and automatically qualified for the state round, allowing them to skip the sectionals.

Meanwhile, congratulations to the Lakeside girls tennis team who put together a spectacular season, going 22-1 and winning the Class AAAAA state championship. They beat Starr’s Mill 3-2, avenging a 3-2 loss to Starr’s Mill on Feb. 9.

It was definitely a team effort throughout the year, as it was at the championship match. Miranda Whitmire will be stepping down after four years as head coach and definitely will leave the cupboard full as the Lady Panthers lose just one senior. They will be a force to be reckoned with next year.

Congratulations also go out to Kennesaw State senior Tom Mudrak, a Lakeside alum, who was named the SouthEastern Lacrosse Conference Defensive Player of the Year as well as being named All-SELC first team.

The senior Mudrak played for the Division II Owls for four years, is a four-time All-SELC defender and was honorable mention Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association All-American in 2010. There is also a chance he will be named a 2013 MCLA All-American at the end of the month.